


♄ Saturn ♄

by CheshireCatLife



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Returning Home, Reunited and It Feels So Good, Saturn - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-17 09:31:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13656234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheshireCatLife/pseuds/CheshireCatLife
Summary: ♄ ‘'You taught me the courage of stars before you left, how light carries on endlessly, even after death. With shortness of breath, you explained the infinite: how rare and beautiful it is to even exist’'For Thirteen it has been centuries, for Rose it has been months. Still, how was that ever going to make it better? How was that ever meant to make her feel less lonely?It's just a question of which one was 'her'? ♄





	1. Saturn

**Author's Note:**

> Seeing as this is being written at a time before Jodie Whittaker has taken the role of The Doctor, even though they are filming now, I can confirm that she's going to be very out of character pretty much throughout this whole book, unless I still haven't finished it when Series 11 comes out. I apologise to any future readers but for those who are reading now, on we go.

_‘You taught me the courage of stars before you left, how light carries on endlessly, even after death. With shortness of breath, you explained the infinite: how rare and beautiful it is to even exist’_

At midnight, Rose reached the pier, the inky sky smiling down at her pitiful form. Tears soaked her cheeks and her puffy eyes blocked the view from her sight. But, listening to the calming sloshing of the waves and the clanging of the wind against the silent bell was enough to put her at ease.

She pushed back and forth on the balls of her feet, looking down at her frail hands. It was all a blur, the veins protruding violently from her skin but the blue still barely distinctive from the pink. Leaning on the splintered bannister, she ran the other through her blonde hair, thinking through his words. Thinking through everything.

The waves, tossing and turning with the aggression she couldn’t muster, taunted her to jump. She never would, she knew she wouldn’t. She had so much to wait for. But wait she must. That’s what he told her to do. Wait.

Her eyes darted to the horizon, where the inky sky met the onyx waves in a fight for the shoreline, never winning, never losing, a continuous equilibrium that would be fought until the sun finally made her appearance and balanced the battle, turning the water blue and the sky grey.

She stared morosely at the stars reflections in the water. Just like her, they were stuck as an echo of their former glory. She had been up there, with the stars, in the Universe, travelling. Travelling so far, in time and space. So far with a man she barely knew. And now she felt like she knew him too much.

And here she was, alone, an echo like the stars in the sea. Left behind. A replica with diminished light, diminished passion. She was going to find her way back to him, she was. She knew she was. She had to. But that didn’t change that fact that an echo could fade in seconds.

She was mortal and, for all intents and purposes, he was not. They were never meant to fall in love. The sky was the place for the stars, not the sea. The wall between them was only a reinforcement. Even a supernova couldn’t keep them together, couldn’t speak those last words. She was trapped and he must have been glad.

That’s why she cried nowadays. She thought of him and how happy he must be. He’d probably moved on by now, found another (one in a wedding gown or a doctor’s uniform) to tag along. She was nothing special. She’d always known that. Sarah Jane was proof enough of that.

It didn’t matter who went with the Doctor, they were always left behind. Love or not. Friendship or not. Always left behind.

Her pale hands clutched at the cool metal of the rail, her knuckles white with pressure. She gulped, trying to refrain from sobbing but finding that even after all this time, months now, that she still had the energy to cry for him. Choking cries that were loud enough for him to hear all the way in another universe. One wall between them, one universe and one loud cry.

She pushed away vehemently and stalked down the pier, her hands stuffed in the pockets of her grey hoodie, a dreary look for a dreary night. Her eyes still sparkled with unshed tears, matching the glistening lights hidden beneath the surface of the sloshing waves.

The shops were dead with the night- lights shut off, doors locked and people vanished. The peace was as eerie as it was comforting, the whispers of the night so much clearer in the silence of the main street, the wind rushing through it like a tunnel.

Each breath was another puff of steam, clouds forming around her face, warming it slowly. She regretted leaving now, the biting cold seeping through her skin. Shivers wracked her body and her fingers were barely felt as she wiggled them in her pockets to try and return any sensation.

She treaded carefully through the paved streets, each tap of her feet another booming clap to wreck the silence. She wished, just for a second, that she could ask him to do it all again. To run his gib with that charming smile and go on until the universe had reached its end and there they would be, the two who got to witness it.

She had tried to write it down once, to explain the magic on a page but each world felt like an understatement, like she couldn’t describe that goofy grin or the way that he laughed like he hadn’t a care in the world. That’s what she loved; he laughed through it all, after all the pain and the agony of his life and he could still laugh like a child. And he always meant it. He didn’t cover his sadness, he just allowed himself to be happy. Because of her, he said. Of course, she had never believed him but the thought was pleasing nonetheless.

The clouds rolled in like trains into a station, their thunderous claps echoing in the endless sky. The rain poured next, heavy and torturous but she endured it with a smile. He had taught her that; always smile because then you know that, at least, you can be happy, even if you aren’t yet.

Each step closer to home, each raindrop that soaked her skin, was another memory of him. Like her life flashing before her eyes, she remembered him, lying to herself that the picture that was ingrained in her mind would stay that way forever. But, everything fades in time, just like she would fade from his.

She’d give anything just to see him one more time and hear his promise on last time. Just so that he could remind her that no matter how much he travelled, the universe was made just to be seen by her eyes. Not his, not anyone else's. He had gifted her the universe and in return she had given him grief.

She wanted to hear it all again and then maybe she could finally write it down on paper like she had been struggling to do for the months long past. Maybe then she could make sense of the memories in her head and put them into a logical sequence. Maybe then she could finally describe that laugh. Maybe then she could explain why she was left behind.

Just one more time. That’s all she needed; one more time. The universe that was tailored to fit her- for her body, mind and eyes.

The blistering cold faded into a mindless graze and she hastily returned home, the dark streets abandoned by the flickering street lights. The house came into view behind the hazy fog of darkness, revealing the elaborate mansion in all its glory. Light flickered through the grand windows and silhouettes of people rushed about inside. She saw her mother, no doubt having another argument with Pete, waving her hands frantically as she paced the room.

Withholding a laugh, Rose opened the door with a creak, her key jammed in the dodgy lock.

'Mum?' She called out, her voice wavering as the consequences of her hidden tears came through. 'I'm home!' She continued when she was met with the oppressive silence her mother always used when she was in trouble. With a gulp, the guilt settled in like a heavy rock in the water of her stomach.

'Rose Tyler, where the hell have you been?' Her mother chastised as she stormed down the stairs, the scowl on her face chipping the faded red lipstick slathered onto her lips.

'Sorry, mum, I just-'

'Save it, I've had enough of this moping. If you don't get over him, you're on the streets, missy. Honest.' Rose nodded, her body violently still as she readied herself for the rest of her mother's onslaught. Instead, she was met with nothing but the pounding steps on the staircase, her mother fleeing to her room.

Guiltily, Rose slipped off her shoes and toed up the stairs to her own room, the only place that she felt safe nowadays. The arching columns reflected those of the TARDIS, matched with the beige walls and plain carpet. But, most importantly, was the letters on the wall.

Gallifreyan.

In all honesty, she had no idea whether they meant anything at all. She had drawn them from memory and commissioned a painter to do them especially in her room. She was sure the Doctor would laugh at her antics, that sly grin creeping over his face until he showed his teeth and laughed like he was still a child- like a man that had not seen war or blood or pain.

Rose changed, trying to ignore the faint murmur of her mum's complaints. Hidden behind the veil of her mother’s nattering, she could hear the faint hum of a baby's gurgle and without a second thought, she pulled on a pair of pyjama bottoms and rushed to Tony's room.

She smiled gently and cooed over his cot as she watched him gurgle and roll around his cot at a time that, she must remind you, was far past his bedtime. He was starting to grow out of the age where he woke them in the middle of the night but it had become second nature to Rose to rush to him when she heard a noise in the night. She was as much his mother as her own was. She doted over Tony like the son she could never have- wouldn't have, she had to separate those, one of these days.

'Heya, Tony. How are you?' She spoke childishly, picking him up and letting him rest in her arms whilst she waved one of her hands magically in front of his face. He stared at her like she was the stars, his eyes wide with curiosity, ready to learn about everything they had to offer him. And, by the stars, that was more than anyone would ever know.

She lumbered over to the rocking chair and placed herself down, gently rocking Tony until his little eyes began to close, his brown irises peeking out from behind his shuttered eyelids.

She laughed as bubbles of spit protruded from his lips as he giggled at her antics, his tiny lips curving up into an impossibly small smile, so small yet still so full of joy like a sun barely peeking over the horizon.

The curtains of his room, one of the many baby blue items Jackie had picked out, fluttered gently in the wind, the moonlight dancing by the shadows on the floor, every now and then a star desperate to join in flickering in and out of existence.

Using her spare hand to turn the nightlight on, she smiled down at Tony with a mother's heart and rocked him even gentler than before. 'I think its time I told you a few things, little brother.' She smiled down at him, her hand now running through the fine hair that was beginning to grow on his head.

'Once upon a time, I met a man, a very interesting man. Some people even called him a madman. But I knew differently. He was brilliant and I was...I was fantastic.' She choked out, the words finally pouring out after too long telling them to herself. 'I saved him, he used to tell me. I saved the madman in a box because I was the big bad wolf but unlike the stories, I wasn't evil. He used to always say things like that, that the stories were wrong. They're just memories told differently, mixed up in the chain as they are passed from one generation to the next.' She paused for breath, a small smile passing over her face as the memories all came back in one huge tidal wave.

The tears ran down her cheeks before she could even register the pain in her heart. She laughed out of pity and cradled her brother closer to her chest. 'He showed me so much, he showed me everything. You may not understand much of this but I'm going to tell you because when you are older you are going to be the smartest boy at school because you'll know what no one else knows. Because I'm going to explain the infinite.'

_‘With shortness of breath, I'll explain the infinite: how rare and beautiful it truly is that we exist,_


	2. Earth

The droning of the TARDIS was a nuisance; the whizzing and purring of the machine were getting on her nerves and soon enough she knew that she would have to press a few buttons and turn the engine off, hoping that wherever she was would be better than the last place.

Seriously, Mysterine may have been a beautiful- and brilliant- island but she had not expected them to hold a grudge so long. She wasn't even a man anymore, for god's sake! They couldn't tell her off for something she did eight centuries ago!

With clammy hands, she grasped at the lever and tugged it with far more might than she intended, the weak bolt flying off along with the handle. 'No, no, no!' She cried, trying to jam it back into place but to no avail.

The TARDIS doors flew open and revealed the watchful stars glaring at her stupidity. 'It is not my fault that I regenerated! I'm learning to fly this all over again!' She argued as she began to flick switches in a random order that she hoped would look sensical to any onlooker. The TARDIS, to be fair on it, usually did a lot of work, she'd never had this resistance before.

It was like the TARDIS was trying to tell her something.

But heck, when did she ever listen to advice?

'Stop doing that!' She ordered as she pushed another ten buttons, the groaning only getting louder until she could feel the buzz tremor through her. 'Also, shut the doors, it's cold!' She complained, throwing herself into the TARDIS' seat with a defeated sigh.

'What do you want?' The TARDIS hummed happily and lit up a series of buttons, indicating what needed to be pressed. 'I'm not doing this for you, you know.' She argued in spite, her hand slamming down on the new controls.

Immediately, the humming ceased to groan and began to sing, the green lights illuminating like stars across the columns of the coral ceilings. The Doctor couldn’t help but smile as the new design spilt out all that was her new imagination, the one thing she had often lacked before. She could imagine new inventions and new music and new silly ideas but she had missed out on this, the joy and the satisfaction of making it.

The Doctor understood joy, that was how she (or previously he) thrived. But now, it was so much more. So much more sentimental. The Doctor was never sentimental, she couldn’t afford to be sentimental but with womanhood, she found a new strength in herself that she hadn’t felt before.

Her imagination ran wild, ideas of new planets and stories of saving people and art that only a Time Lord could create. She found that the emotions that had weakened her before, strengthened her. Grief and fear were her friends now; they would make her stronger.

Watching the lights dance, she knew that she had missed out on so much. She had let it all in, all the pain she had been holding in the recesses of her mind and she had never felt so happy. Nor had she ever felt the urge to cry as heavily. But The Doctor doesn’t cry- not because crying is weak but crying shows an acceptance of your grief. She had long since accepted her grief as a part of her and now she was using it to create beauty.

The swirling columns and grand panels were evidence enough of her new vigour for life, the new excitement. Each light was a star and each shadow was an opportunity for life. After two millennia of living, she felt revitalised, roaring to go but this time she didn’t need to show anyone else, she was content to do it herself and if someone came along well of course they could, she would never give up the chance.

She thrived in her loneliness and her potential capability to make new friends. And wasn’t it brilliant?

All anger that had amassed at the TARDIS disappeared as it flew through the time vortex and took her where she was most needed. If she was honest with herself, the TARDIS knew best, although she would never admit that aloud.

There was something freeing about flying now. With Gallifrey out there in the future, yet to be saved, options were coming to light. Although not everything could be done now, possibilities were arriving: parallel universes, out-of-universe travels, forbidden planet acceptions. She was going to enjoy it all.

Buzzing, she flew to the monitor: ‘now, where are you taking me?’. She started to type rapidly on the keyboard, the clicking like music to her ears as the Gallifreyan symbols swirled and twisted until the location was determined.

The TARDIS landed with a plonk, sending her jolting backwards, the familiar groan signifying that they were at their final destination. ‘You finally going to tell me where we are?’ The TARDIS hummed and the monitor began to move by itself, the circles rolling in the wrong direction until they were replaced with the clear latin letters: Dårlig Ulv Stranden.

‘Huh? Why? That doesn’t even exist in this universe.’ She squinted at the screen, hoping that she wouldn’t need glasses in this regeneration: she rather like wearing them just to look smart. The screen changed again, a few more circles running by so quickly that The Doctor didn’t have time to read them.

Then, the sentence extended.

Dårlig Ulv Stranden, Pete’s World.

‘Okay, you gotta be kidding me. The place isn’t even actually called Pete’s World.’ It seemed the TARDIS would like to argue that. ‘Why here? What’s so important about here?’

Time stopped for a second, her memories skipping back centuries.

‘But surely Rose’s is….is dead by now.’ She choked out. ‘It’s been centuries.’ The TARDIS hummed and she sighed in defeat.

‘Right, I’m in a time machine.’

She sighed, falling back into the lone chair of the TARDIS and thought it through. So, she was back in a time where Rose was alive and trapped in a parallel universe, most likely a few years since they'd last met. Rose had probably moved on, fallen in love with what was- for all intents and purposes- her...but male and a few centuries out of date.

Realising that it would be best to check the date before doing as she was told, she returned to the Gallifreyan keyboard and pressed a few buttons and watched the circles return to the screen, much calmer now, allowing her to watch the process taking place, seeing the numbers tick down dangerously close to what she hadn't wanted.

'No.' She paused re-reading the number on the screen. 'No, no, no, this can't be right.' She squinted at the screen, wondering if the numbers were upside down, wouldn't that be great?

She flew around to the other side of the TARDIS, taking the monitor with her, and typed at the English keyboard with new-found vigour. 'Please, you've got to be wrong.' She begged, not daring to look outside those doors. 'I moved passed this! I'm not going back now!' She began to panic, her fingers moving faster and faster, trying to overrule the machine that was telepathically linked to her- they both knew it was impossible.

'Ugh!' She slammed her fist down on the console, the keyboard bending at an awkward angle, a few of the keys flying away like dust. Regaining her breath, she held her head in her hands. Each breath felt heavier and more arduous than the last until she could feel both her hearts beat like they were slamming out of her chest.

She pushed herself away from the console with a heave and stumbled towards the doors, her breath increasing rapidly, her newly-thin fingers balancing delicately on the door handle. 'Why did you bring me back here?' Of course, the TARDIS chose now to be silent, its gentle hum nothing more than an empathetic tune as it urged her out the doors. 'I don't want to go out there.' She admitted, her eyes pooling with tears that would never shed, reliving all those emotions that she had thought had scattered into the forgotten part of her memory.

The door creaked open and she held back the urge to recoil backwards. With trepidation she pulled it, hearing the awful cry of the door as it screamed against the metal grating.

Immediately she could hear the gentle call of the sea, urging her out onto the untouched sand. She peered out with a single eye to scan the deserted beach, the blistering winds heavy with winter.

She gained the courage she needed and opened the rest of the door with a flourish, jumping out into the world, ignoring the wind beating at her hair. (Note 1 of being a woman, long hair is very annoying). The sand pooled into the caverns her shoes created, both her and the TARDIS sinking down slowly as the engines groaned to a halt and she let out a final relieved breath.

The beach, although beautiful, was desolately bleak. The grey clouds antagonised her, promising oncoming sadness. She didn't shake when the first roll of thunder shouted from the sky, the lightning striking miles from her.

The rain came next, urging her to run as her TARDIS locked its doors and told her to go. With a sigh, she swiped the sticky hair from her forehead, smoothing it behind her ears, and set out for the nearest village, her coat not nearly enough to protect her from the violent weather.

The walk was at least two hours and although The Doctor had endured worse, she couldn't help but wince at each step when she heard the slosh of the water in her boots and the slap of her wet coat against the trousers that were permanently stuck to her legs.

She didn't often care about comfort but seeing the village come to light, her hope was beginning to diminish. The Norwegian town was little and, as far as she could see, not very helpful. Walking through the dusty, cobbled streets, she found no more than two cars, one of which didn't look like it was going to last that long at all.

The houses, although cosy-looking and warm, exuded no light and whilst the street-lamps were on, The Doctor could almost mistake it for abandoned if it were not for the distant glimmering light of a house.

She began to jog, her feet slapping heavily, the sound echoing through the abandoned light, the clouds creating a layer of grey over the barren streets. Looking up at the sky, she tried to smile. Hope was always the best option and just knowing that this was another adventure under the hidden stars was enough to excite her.

Surely this trip wasn't to see Rose anyway? The TARDIS wouldn't do that to her, would it? No. She'd moved on a long time ago. Rose used to be the most important thing in her life but it had been centuries now and Rose may still have a place in her heart and still caused an unbridled guilt in her stomach, she was part of the past now.

There was no point in forgetting it ever happened now; she would just have to accept and forgive herself for what she was about to decide. She was going to do whatever she could to not see the girl. She'd have moved on by now with a man that was, for The Doctor, the best person she could leave her with.

There was no point in destroying that.

She thought back to the date, her jog slowing to a walk as the light became ever-closer. January 3rd, 2008. How long had it been since Canary Wharf? Surely after Rose had returned. Canary Wharf was 2007 and she returned in…

2009.

She stopped, her eyes wide as she chastised herself for not realising it before. Rose hadn't moved on because...Rose was still working her way back to The Doctor. Back to her.

She drives forward towards the hazy light in spite of her racing thoughts, trembling in the cold winter weather. Hands trapped in her pockets, she rushed forward, near desperate now to get inside before the day ended and night dawned on her.

The house was like a mirage in the desert, it's old wooden frame shivering in the wind. Her boots slapped heavily against the splintering brown and she hoped that would be enough to alert someone inside that she was there. She knocked on the door, the sound much quieter than what she was used to, her small hands looked wind-torn and battered already, albeit that they were free of calluses.

She waited, huddled and cold until the door opened, a bulky man in the last legs of his life scowling at her. 'Who are you?' He asked, his voice thick with a Norwegian accent.

'I'm The Doctor.' she tried to smile kindly, hiding her hopes to smash his face in as he looked down at her patronisingly.

'Doctor who?'

'Just The Doctor.' Her smile curved inward, barely resembling a smile as a grimace took forth.

'Arne! Stop making the poor women wait outside and let her in.' A crooked old lady, who was still standing strong for being in such advanced years (from what The Doctor could tell), chastised from behind what was presumably her husband. 'Come on in, sweetheart.' The Doctor nodded and stepped through the doorway, scanning the old building for anything out of place or unusual.

'What are you doing here, young lady? This place has been evacuated.' The Doctor's interest peaked, maybe she had a job here after all.

'What do you mean, evacuated?'

'The evacuation, you haven't heard?'

'I'm not from around here.' The Doctor explained ambiguously as she was ushered to an old armchair, the springs creaking under her light weight as Arne watched her menacingly from the doorway as the woman made her way to sit opposite her, snapping her fingers once she was settled, ushering Arne away.

'Oh, how did you make it? People say you can't get in anymore, they've shut the borders.'

'How come?'

'From what place on Earth are you from? Everyone's heard.'

'Well, I haven't.' The Doctor said seriously, leaning forward in her chair, her calculating look unsettling.

'The Cybermen. The world's paranoid, they've shut down key areas and places for the Cybermen just to make sure.'

'But the Cybermen are gone. I stopped- I mean, they stopped them.'

'They are but as I said, people are scared. This used to have a huge metal factory, Cybermen got parts from here. That's it. Nothing other than that but they've evacuated the whole village.'

'What about you?'

'Ah, Arne and I didn't want to go. We've lived here our whole lives, they can't drag us out, only shut us in.'

'I'm sorry.' The Doctor's face softened with empathy, all calculations shutting down as she was overtaken by compassion, an odd turn from her previous-self that she was still getting used to. It seemed that there was no mystery to be solved, only a case of world paranoia and the aftereffects of a major catastrophe.

There was a reason she always left.

'Oh, don't worry, we're both perfectly okay with it. Arne, where's that tea?' Arne bustled back in with a tray, a pot of tea balanced delicately in the middle of the floral pattern with a few small jugs of milk and sugar.

'Thank you.' The Doctor said politely and poured herself a cup, revelling in the relief on her synapses as her fear dissolved into peace.

'So, alien, why are you here on earth?' The woman asked. The Doctor, shocked, didn't reply for a second, gathering her wits. 'How did you know?'

'This world has met the Cybermen, we know they're not the only ones from up there. And if you don't know about the announcement then you clearly haven't been on this world in the last few months. So, why are you here on Earth?'

The Doctor sighed belligerently, mildly frustrated that she had been seen through from the beginning. 'My ship stranded me here. I was here a while ago but I've never returned. She seemed to want me here.'

'She?'

'Don't most men call their ships she?'

'But you are not a man.'

'Oh...yes. But still, all the same applies, women are barely different from men.'

'You may be right.' The old woman agreed, pouring her own cup and leaning back with a comfortable sigh.

'I'm sorry to have to ask this but are the cars outside yours? I need to get back to the beach, I'm hoping my ship might be willing to get me out of here.'

'You talk like your ship is alive.' The old woman laughed gently, smiling into her steaming cup of tea.

'Maybe it is.' The Doctor said, smiling slightly but didn't forget to reiterate her point. 'But I'd love to get back to it.'

'Oh, of course! Arne will drive you down.' The old woman smiled even wider, the kindness lining her cheeks with years of laughter lines.

'Thank you...'

'Ida.'

'Thank you, Ida.' Still grinning, Ida called Arne back in, who had disappeared off to the garden to read his book despite the freezing temperatures.

In another twenty minutes, The Doctor was in the old jeep, waving off Ida and hoping that Arne wouldn't scowl at her too much along the way, the man had barely said a word as of yet and The Doctor may have been fearless but she couldn't help but feel unsettled. The likelihood that she had walked into an alien trap was still high, she always seemed to find herself in trouble no matter what, but as the drew closer and closer to the beach, she started to calm.

The tires grated against the sand and The Doctor left Arne to drive back with a large grin and a goodbye, which was in no way returned by the scowling man, and skipped down to the TARDIS with a flourish, praying that the doors would open.

'You gonna let me in now?' She asked the TARDIS, pumped up by the cheerful conversation despite the dire end. The small hum was enough to signify that at least the engines were on meaning, if anything, she had a chance of getting inside. Placing her hands gently around the handle, she pulled, letting out a gasp as the door pulled back with ease, her grin growing to impossible levels. 'Oh, brilliant.'

Flying into her TARDIS, she swung herself around the console and to the monitor, hoping to see different results. 'You're gonna take me to where I want now, won't you? I'll comply, we can stay here but drag me forward a few months.' She smiled at it, hoping a little coercion might help her case. Hearing a familiar groan, she knew they had made a compromise and she set to work, flicking switches and pulling levers which suddenly seemed much easier than before. 'Thank you.' She whispered to the TARDIS as she pressed the final buttons with a: 'voila!'

She relished in the buzz and hum of her ship, skipping around with new found excitement, just waiting for the new adventure. She knew that the TARDIS had taken her to that time for a reason and it couldn't be Rose, the timing was all wrong. Just in case, though, she'd skip a few months, making sure the timelines wouldn't get too jumbled and take it from there. Rose had her meta-crisis, no guilt, she'd done the right thing. Nothing more complicated than that. No Rose meeting her in the wrong time. No Rose meeting her at all if she could help it.

Love never died but guilt did, she'd moved on. Right, yes, moved on. That's why the word Rose kept creeping up. That's why, when she clambered down the stairs, she saw a vase of roses by the machinery. That's why the console was a hundred percent, definitely not, preparing itself for another person with another bedroom, pink to resemble her home- to resemble the one she had had before.

'Okay, where are we now then?' She asked, peering down at the spinning circles with what would appear to be understanding but was little more than nodding and squinting at a screen; it was funny how after so much time with friends in the TARDIS that she had learnt to look clever just for the sake of it- she really needed to bring back the glasses (the clever ones, not the sunglasses. Never the sunglasses).

The circles stopped and the Latin letters appeared again, slowly fading into existence like it was resisting something. 'Come on, tell me!' She gritted her teeth, hitting a hand against the monitor in hopes that it would jump it into action.

To her luck, or maybe not, the monitor jumped and the words flashed on the screen:

Place: Bergen, Pete's World

Date: January 4th, 2008

She practically growled at the screen. 'I told you to take me to the next year, not the next day!' Gritting her teeth, she manically pressed buttons, hoping that the whirring would begin again but all she could hear was the groaning that came with the usual parking procedure.

'What if I run into Rose, huh? Or Pete? Or Jackie?! What do I do? If they hear I'm The Doctor then...then that's bad!' She complained, failing to find any significant words into her fantastically huge dictionary of a brain.

The TARDIS didn't even bother to argue back, only urged her towards the doors, practically pushing her out and slamming the doors behind her. 'Hey!' She shouted, drawing a few onlookers eyes but she didn't care about being a mad lady shouting at a police box from England because she needed to get back in there and get herself to the right place. 'Stop it.' She chastised, drawing more eyes at the woman who was telling off a box.

Because that's what she did now. She got a new face and what could she do? Tell off a box.

'Fine.' She spat and stormed off, wrapping her trench coat around her waist moodily and stalked down the bustling high street. Looking at her surroundings, she found it to be unfamiliar territory. Norwegian cities didn't have a huge place in her brain and she couldn't think of a time when she had come anywhere near the actual cities of Norway, even if she had been to the beaches and countryside areas a few times before.

Her first port of call was Tourist Information. Yes, Tourist Information. The Doctor may travel a lot but she was also famous for avoiding the 'classic' approach but she'd need a map at the least and a way to find her way around.

As her body slowly loosened and her irritation faded away, she walked down the streets with her head held high and awed at the written language that the TARDIS didn't have time to translate and the tall, beautiful Scandinavian buildings that surrounded her. Within minutes, she was grinning like a mad woman (and maybe she was) and approached the Tourist Information Centre with a slight skip in her step, her coat bustling behind her.

'Hi, can I have a map, please?' She asked the woman at the desk, a kind looking woman in her mid-forties who was surprisingly smiley for a woman at a front desk. In her experience, most people didn't take lightly to being asked for something they were required to do in their work contract. Or was that just Britain? The Doctor was in dire need of a tour around the whole of Earth; the more she thought about it, the more she realised that she never often strayed further than Scotland unless UNIT sent her on a plane to deal with a catastrophic world event.

'Of course, madam' she leaned down, rifling through the papers. 'I'm so sorry, give me a moment, they must be buried underneath a few things.' The woman apologised and The Doctor her best not to be rude and tell the woman to hurry up, she was roaring to explore now.

'So, have you heard about the blue box?' The woman asked conversationally.

'Blue box?' The Doctor gulped timidly.

'Yes, apparently some box just appeared on the main street and some mad lady walked out of it and started shouting at it before leaving. The news is spreading like wildfire.' The woman chuckled and finally gave a sigh of relief as she found a stack. 'Sorry that took me so long, not many people ask for maps anymore- phones, you see.' The Doctor nodded numbly and took the map, her wanderlust quelled by the sense of dread that was washing over her.

Had the woman meant what she said? How long would it take for the world to know? Plenty of people here knew about her by now, surely they would come for her immediately. She'd really rather not get dragged out of her sightseeing to fix some alien technology right now because she was sure there was certainly no disaster going on, she sensed those sort of things.

But then again, the TARDIS had brought her here.

Her grin slowly reforming, she prepared herself for an oncoming adventure, checking that her screwdriver was still tucked away in her jacket and her boots were still intact enough to run in, despite the feeling of sand grating between her toes every time she wiggled them.

She fled the centre and opened the map with fumbling fingers, the crinkling paper so unfamiliar that she let out a slight chuckle as she struggled to open it up all the way.

Spotting the Tourist Information Centre as a little I, she decided to follow the largest road and see where it took her, stopping every now to look at something in the tech shops, wondering what the technology of this parallel was like. She couldn't help it as she found herself logging away the information about this Universe with efficient professionally, comparing it to his Earth in every way from technology to politics.

The night fell by the time she found herself at a junction with no more shops surrounding her, only the desolate landscape of the outskirts of a city, wondering why her feet didn't ache more after the miles-long trek.

'Excuse me, ma'am?' She turned with a jump, doing her best not to look surprised. A man, stereotypically clad in a black suit with sunglasses, handed her over a phone, his muscled body alone enough to threaten her into taking the phone without question, despite his polite demeanour. His accent was most definitely not Norwegian and she almost laughed at how her body buzzed at the adrenaline that came with the expectancy to run or to talk until someone shut her up.

'Hello?' She asked into the phone, her thin eyebrows drawing inwards in confusion.

'Hello, is this The Doctor?'

'Huh-'

'This is Pete Tyler, do you know who I am?'

'Um...no.' She lied, gulping, she'd rather not be outed the moment he spoke to her, with this new voice it shouldn't be too hard to disguise herself.

'But are you The Doctor. The Time Lord? I have never met his parallel, is that who you are? Or are you an imposter?' The Doctor's mind strayed as she heard his voice, despite the serious nature it took, memories flooding unwillingly into her thought processes.

Fear wrapped itself around her, its usually harmless grip, squeezing her lungs painfully as she gasped for breaths, tears staining her eyes but never spilling. 'I'm The Doctor,' she followed on, thankful that he had left her such an open-ended question. 'But who is this other Time Lord? I'm...I'm the only one left but I've never met a Pete Tyler.' She almost laughed at her formality, taking the new situation in her stride and creating her character with a flair that she missed. If The Doctor was good at anything, it was acting.

She was reassured by the knowledge that Time Lords existed in no Universe but their own, the ability to travel between them meaning that no parallels seemed to be created. The Time Lords had researched it and although it made no scientific sense, they took it as fact and The Doctor prayed to the stars that they were right. Running in with her double now would create a larger catastrophe than she was already caught in.

'It is nice to meet you, Doctor. I have met you from another Universe but I'm sure there are differences between you. When I heard you were a woman, well...' He trailed off, for the first time seemingly uncomfortable with the conversation.

'I've always been a woman, Time Lords are always women.' She joked but seemed to forget the formality of the situation when Pete replied with a terse, 'Oh, I'm sorry, I mean no offence.'

The Doctor didn't bother to correct him; it would be easier if they thought she could never be a man, it would make them less suspicious. 'Anyway,' Pete continued, 'my daughter needs some help to get back to you, well, the other you. I need your help.'

'I'm sorry but I-' She was immediately cut off, her frantic plea to leave not being recognised. She couldn't see Rose now, she just couldn't.

'My agent will take you to England, your box has already been collected. I will meet you tomorrow where I will brief you on the situation.' She tried to argue again but she was only cut off as Pete hung up, in no mood to argue, and the man waved her to follow him. With flight on her mind, she realised his words. 'Your box has already been collected', he must mean the TARDIS, he had to. Frowning, she realised that maybe this journey wouldn't be as exciting as she thought it would be.

Back to phase one, then, let's meet Rose and lie to her face. Again.


	3. Aries

_'Aries personalities are independent. Being the first of the zodiac signs, they venture out and are go-getters, often leading the way. Their upbeat and magnetic personality often entices others to follow their lead because Aries personalities bring excitement into others lives.'_

The zeppelin groaned gregariously, the wind rushing the hair from her face as she buried herself in the mantle of her coat, hoping for some warmth. She could stand far lesser temperatures than humans but the brazing winds were doing nothing good for her synapses. They ushered her on board like she was a VIP, the man with a suit's hand resting gently on her back as he led her up the staircase, a red carpet rolling down the flight's steps.

After so many trips on an aeroplane, saving the world and such, she feels awkward to get onto such a large ship, and a slow one at that. Zeppelins, whilst being much smoother and calmer, went far too slow for her liking and the usual two-hours, give or take, to get to the UK on a plane was going to take an estimate of five.

Sighing, she found herself a comfortable place in the main cabin, curling up on a velvet chair with some biography she had found in the compartment, being reminder by the hostess that she only has the press a button to get service. Wondering why Pete gave her such a nice trip, she began to skim the pages, taking the information in absorbingly but paying no emotional attention to the words she was reading.

Her hairs stood on end, even in the warmth, as she let the nerves trickle through her mask, her usual strength diminished by past long gone. Rose. Just a single word and enough to send her running. Her legs itched to run, to run away like she always did, like she was proud to do. But the guilt lay too heavy, like snow settling on ice, her cold demeanour a masking of her rapid-beating heart.

At some point, the book was thrown to the side and she had resorted to cyphering through her thoughts with her eyes closed and her hands clasped in her lap. Rose. Rose, Rose, Rose. She twiddled her thumbs, trying to divert her mind or making any coherent thought but no...

It was just Rose, Rose, Rose.

For a moment, she wished that she hadn't left at all. It had been the right decision. She wouldn't ever regret it. But guilt and regret were too far apart. Whilst her stomach turned violently, her heart pumped with excitement. Rose, she got to see Rose.

Or not.

It would be far easier if she didn't.

Her mind raced further, chasing itself in circles as thoughts joined in on themselves, repeating themselves like a broken videotape until she could only hear her voice.

She knows there's a point at the one-hour mark where she shuts down. The nerves overwhelm her and she takes to the escape route she had taken to recently. Giving up. Not in the sense that she wouldn't save the day, she would always save the day but she found that she no longer cared. And not caring, in her books, was just as bad. What did it matter if you saved people if you didn't even care about them?

She cursed herself for even accepting it as a character flaw. If anything, it should be the battle she should try to overcome. But there was one fatal flaw. If there was ever a point in which she needed to overcome it, she had already been plagued by it. Why would she stop it when she just didn't care.

The shuffling of feet filled the room with ominous whispers. She looked over to see a man, only a little younger looking than her body now- late twenties, early thirties, maybe?- scuffling his feet against the carpet, his black shoes leaving muddy skid stains on the spotless flooring.

She scowled at him but the shuffling didn't stop. It never stopped. Four regular shuffles, the beat of a heart- to her, at least. She shook in her seat, her fingers grasping for something to grasp but only finding the plush cushion of the armrest, his fingers sinking far too easily into the soft material.

Four shuffles.

And another four.

Yet another four.

Yet another beat of her heart.

'Stop.' She growled, reigning in her anger for a more suitable time, her teeth gritted together. The man looked over, freezing for a second, his eyes wide with shock but as she let herself relax again, his legs swung freely and the shuffle returned.

'Why are you doing that?' She was almost asking herself; if the room had been less devoid of humans then maybe she would be able to.

'Doing what?' The man replied, his thick Norwegian accent becoming almost familiar to her now.

'That shuffling.'

'I'm not.'

'You are.'

'No, I'm not.'

'You are, in four beats. Why four beats? Where did you get that from?' She interrogated, leaning forward in her chair, watching as the man gulped and slumped guilty in his chair.

'I was just sitting here, I wasn't doing anything.' She relaxed again, perplexed by his sincerity.

'Why are you on here? I haven't seen anyone else.' She asked, shuffling forward until she balancing on the edge of her chair, ready to sprint in seconds. This man was suspicious, she had a right to keep her guard up.

'I suspect the same reason as you.'

'You most certainly are not.'

'Why? Are you special? From what I heard, this man just wants doctors.' She sighed, pinching her nose as she listened to his naivety.

'No, he wanted the Doctor.'

'Yeah, and he found me. The Doctor, it's my nickname in my town. I'm the only doctor there.' The man smiled kindly, his grin almost contagious if her mood had not already sunk so low.

'Wow, Pete really is desperate. I guess today's his lucky day.' She muttered to herself.

'Huh?'

'Don't worry about it.'

'No, why do you sound like you know what's going on? Some guy in a suit comes up to you and you just know whats happening? You sound quite pompous to think this is all about you.'

'But it is.' She defended herself, finding little else to say.

'How do you know that?'

'I know Pete.'

'Pete?'

'The man who called you.'

'You know him?'

'Yeah.'

'So how come I'm here if he's found you?' The man asked reasonably.

'I know him but I don't think he knows me.' She admitted, picking at her stubby nails which had reached their limit as she picked them to the point of near bleeding. What was it with new habits? This one's terrible. I mean, it's no fez but still.

'What!?'

'It's complicated.'

'You really don't make a lot of sense.' He argued, his eyebrows furrowing as he crossed his arms stubbornly.

'How old are you?' She asked gently, worried that he would spit his anger on her with a punch to the gut. He may not have been hugely muscular but he surely could take her on in a fight if she was unprepared.

'Twenty-nine. Why?' He replied defensively, shoving himself further into the armchair on the other side of the room, still swinging his leg back and forth, his sole dangling barely an inch of the floor, one leg now folded on top of the other.

'I'm over a thousand-years-old. I'd like to think that proves me correct.' She ignored any gaping from his side and focused back on her stubby nails, the ends cracked and dirty.

The plane continued to purr, ignoring the ignited tension in the room, leaving her to listen to the humble engine drag them further to their destination. She pitied the boy, having been dragged on this plane for no good reason, but felt at least partially smug that she had the upper hand in this. Well, she hoped she did, if Pete had been looking for 'The Doctor' then he may be a little too suspicious or her unusual circumstances.

She stood gracefully, ignoring the blue eyes following after her, his floppy brown hair falling over his eyes, leaving the room with no glance at the pouting boy behind her. Stuffing her hands in her pockets, she winded through the vehicle, passing through travel libraries (metal book covers being magnetised to the walls to avoid a mess when turbulence hit, albeit rarely), more sitting rooms, a passenger kitchen/buffet and plenty of other fantastic, but rather useless, rooms.

She explored with un-withering interest until the intercom rang loudly and told the passengers to take their seats in the main cabin as they prepared for the descent. Shocked at the sudden running on of time, she rushed back to the main room where she found the boy in her seat, flicking through the same book she had been browsing earlier.

Unimpressed at his childish behaviour, she took his seat, casually shuffling her feet to the calm beats of her heart. He glared but didn't dare say a word, turning the page, laughing as she gulped when the descent started and her stomach tossed marginally. This was the reason she hated roller-coasters, at least the TARDIS had measures to prevent the pointless sickness of human travel.

'I never asked your name.' She spoke aloud, distracting herself from her rising organs.

'Finn.'

'Well, Finn, it was a pleasure meeting you.' She said sarcastically, scuffling her feet noisily against the floor in a far more annoying way than his shuffling.

'You too.' He scowled, throwing the book down onto the coffee table, watching it vibrate as the engines raged on full-power as they made their landing.

They landed with a thump that she had felt more times than she could explain, muttering something close to 'it seems I'm not the worst pilot' before she stood and pivoted away from the irritating young man that seemed intent on paying her back for her every little action.

In the doorway, she turned, realising she had one last statement she had to give. 'Did you agree when he asked if you were a Time Lord?'

'Huh?'

'Pete, the man on the phone, when he asked you if you were a Time Lord, did you say yes?'

'Well, yeah, I'm good with time. Isn't that what he meant?'

'Oh dear Rassilon, you're an idiot.' She muttered before making her hasty exit, ignoring the whipping winds as she trailed to see their landing point; The Torchwood Institute, they had a sign and all. All she could do was sigh.

The stairs were coated with grime, not the perfect entrance or exit to the rather deluxe plane, or rather zeppelin, journey. Not that she hadn't had her fair share of grimy places. But, she had expected a little more from Torchwood; for all their gadgets, you'd think they could at least find one of the cleaning ones. She thought they were supposed to be innovative.

Ushered by the same man that had picked her up, suddenly feeling sorry for the man having to escort her all this way, she was led through the winding back corridors of the institute followed, sadly, but none other than Finn who was glowering at her with an unsettling ease.

Time ticked slowly as her feet moved to the clicks of the clock, all too slow for a woman who was so used to darting about, running and running and running, never to be found but always to find.

Then, as if anything could get worse at this point, she was led to a waiting room where she was told to wait for her appointment. This wasn't even her choice, why did she have to wait for an appointment?! With a forceful indignation, she crossed her arms and scowled at anyone and anything, the room failing to produce her with anything that might even slightly entertain her. It was like it was designed for boredom. There wasn't even a newspaper where she could read up on this Earth's events. There was Finn but, well, she wasn't going to even try.

'Pete Tyler will see you now.' It came like a blessing, the woman's almost angelic voice- the change to middle-class English almost jarring- dissipating any of The Doctor's left over humiliation at being told, by a human at that, to wait for an appointment. But, she'd respected the silly little humans' culture and now she was finally getting the bit that would pay off.

Pete sat at his pristine desk, a severe change from the mangy corridors, his head in his hands, a pen strewed across an ink-stained page of scribbles that not a single sole, not even the TARDIS, could read. 'I have to tell you now that I'm the one you're looking for not him. Called himself a Time Lord,' she scoffed, 'as if.' Finn shot her a menacing glare but all she did was take her place in one of the two seats laid out in front of them and crossing her legs with a smirk.

'I think you've reached new levels of arrogance.' Complained, although the hidden smile behind it showed the glee that came with finding her.

'Well, I'm not the Doctor you know, am I?'

'I mean, you're a woman for a start.'

'I've always been a woman.' She said automatically, glad that her lying was so precise in this reincarnation. There had been a few too many pouty boys bodies in the past that she'd like to forget.

'As you said.' Pete nodded and turned to Finn with a smile. 'I'm sorry to bring you out so far, Dr Olsen. As she's probably already tried to explain to you in a far too convoluted away, I'm afraid I mistake who you are.' The Doctor didn't know what to think, fear at the formality of Pete's speech, irritation that he was so quick to insult her or mind-boggling gleeful that she had been right. 'But, I've been reading into you Olsen and I think you might be the perfect candidate for the research we're conducting.' The Doctor's smile fell and she couldn't help but let out a mute growl at Pete and Finn's satisfactory faces.

'Dr, I'll be needing you too but first, I'm going to have to talk to you. It seems you're not all that your parallel was.'

'Yes and I'd prefer that you didn't think of me as him.' She did her best to sound insulted when she was referring to herself, an unusually hard task considering how easy it used to be.

'Of course. Finn, my colleague will lead you to the laboratory where you will be briefed. From there, it's your decision as to whether you stay.' Finn nodded and let himself be escorted out despite the condescending hand on his arm like he was a child.

Pete turned back to her, his face masked with malice that she was taken aback by. 'Now, I want to know who you are and what you know about Earth. If you are not him then it's in your best interest to state who you really are.' The Doctor had no reason to fight, giving in easily despite the derogatory gaze. It was in her best interests to get this fiasco out of the way as soon as possible, the chances of avoiding Rose were getting slimmer by the second and the sight of her father alone was enough to send her thoughts spiralling into a self-deprecating pit of cruel nostalgia.

'I'm The Doctor, last of the Time Lords. I'm a woman and always have been. I travel alone and this is only my second time on Earth. I travel the Universe, exploring different cultures and ways of life. I travel in a T.A.R.D.I.S, Truly Awesome Rotating Dizzying Information Ship.' She said slyly and although the joke didn't lighten the thickening tension, it was enough confirmation that the lies would roll easily. 'Or, more commonly, Time and Relative Dimension in Space and yes, it just so happens that the acronym works in Gallifreyan too, my home language. Although, the translation isn't really exact, there are a lot more words in Gallifreyan, their meanings a lot more specific-'

'Stay on topic.'

'Oh yeah, well, what else is there to say?'

'Have you ever...travelled with anyone?' He asked, gulping audibly as The Doctor tensed.

'Yes,' She replied slowly, 'mostly aliens, to you, anyway. There was...' She scavenged for names, pretending that her first failure at a lie was in fact just a nostalgia trip. 'Daisy,' another flower, 'Sara,' at least that was pronounced differently, 'Clark, Billy and Amanda too. There was also Roxy.' She laughed at the thought of Rory's face if she had called him Roxy, ignoring the pang of guilt at the thought of the couple. Why did they always end in tragedies?

'What happened to them?' Low blow.

'They're all fine. Living their lives on their own planet.' The least she could do was honour the dead and give them all their happy endings.

'What do you know about parallel Universes?'

'What is this, quick-fire questions?'

'What do you know?'

'They exist.'

'Have you ever been to one?'

'No.'

'Could you?'

'Possibly.'

'How?'

'I'd have to do research.'

'Are you willing to do that for us?'

'What?'

'That's what you're here for. We're making dimension hoppers to get my daughter back her Doctor and we need help. You're the best chance we've got. And, we have a problem...' Pete trailed off, his eyes sinking the table mellowly.

'What kind of problem?'

'The stars, they're going out. Slowly. Only a few reported missing but you must have noticed, you're up there. Some of them just...aren't there anymore. Key ones too.'

'Which?'

'The constellation of Crux and Aquila have entirely vanished and a few other unnamed stars seem to be reported missing, only noticeable when they leave in clusters.'

'The darkness...it's coming.' The Doctor muttered, reciting the words she had heard so long ago, the fear looming over her like a grinning clown, its fanatical smile sending chills down her spine.

Pete took her as literally as he could, seeing that her knowledge was limited. 'What darkness?'

'It's just what some people call it...the darkness, the stars going out. Disappearing. No reported reason to any of it.'

'Interesting, so you have heard of this?'

'Briefly, yes.' She leant back, scoring her face into an even mask of unpretentiousness. The anxiety that riddled her faded into an incessant hum as she scanned Pete from top to bottom, reading everything from his facial expressions to his body language to decipher what he was feeling.

Was he glad? Was he still belligerent that the 'other' Doctor had left Rose? Did he want to thank her? She couldn't be sure and that alone was enough to set her on edge. The key to her life was the factor of unknown but emotions and concepts varied hugely. Not being able to read someone's face made her lock up, her muscles contorting until she was taught with fear, practically preparing herself for a slap.

'So, Doctor, I'm going to need your help. Are you willing to give that to me?' He finally asked, clasping his desks and leaning forward until his forearms were entirely leaning on the desk.

'Yes but there are conditions.' She bargained, she knew that the TARDIS would not let her go, it seemed there was important business to get on with so the least she could do was make it enjoyable.

'Conditions?'

'Yes, I would...' How would it be acceptable to ask to never, ever see Rose when they'd never technically met in Pete's mind. '...like to work alone if that's okay. I concentrate better.'

'Well that's new, I thought you liked to impress people.'

'I told you, I'm not him.'

'Sorry. But, your terms are accepted.'

'That's not all. I want the TARDIS back. She won't let me leave anyway so it's no danger to you but I'd like a place to sleep that isn't some human hotel.'

'I don't think I can trust that. Don't you control the TARDIS?'

'Not always when...when it's necessary, she overrides me as she has done now. I can prove it. I'll show you the console and show you that is useless.'

'You don't have to if you're willing to do that, I'll trust you. But, what's so important about now?'

'I wish I knew.' The Doctor was too afraid to paint her lips with red petals, the flower's name would be irreversible as soon as it fell from her lips.

'Anything else?'

'No, that's all. What is it that you want me to do?'

'We have the dimension hoppers, all we need you to do it get them working. They're designed flawlessly but we're failing to find an energy source that is large enough or to make them so that less energy is required. We might need to redesign the entire thing.' Well, that would be easy enough, The Doctor had already taken a look at them, in fact, Rose may have even left one in the TARDIS, she was sure she had tempered with one once. She could do it from memory.

Ah, how fun the bootstrap paradox is.

The Doctor nodded along as Pete explained the intricacies of the device with mild interest before she was ushered to the laboratory to be shown the actual contraption, finally. Pete left her somewhere, losing her in the maze of corridors. At some point, she was sure he said he was leaving to take a call, she'd heard the buzz of a phone and it wasn't hers- not that she ever used one, she had one somewhere in the TARDIS, right?

The security guard who was, thankfully, not the man who had brought her from Norway- that man really needed a break. He didn't say a word and neither did she as she listened for any signs of unwanted guests. Jackie's voice, no doubt, would be heard from a mile away. Hopefully, she still had it in her to run...and run fast.

The laboratory was a simple place at the end of a bland corridor, the white walls and white flooring just what she was expecting. Although not spotless, it was kept in good conditions, she even spotted one of the scientists- clad in lab coats- wiping the walls down with disinfectant.

No one even bothered to look her way, engrossed in their own work, as she began to dawdle throughout the room. The man had left her alone, absconding the room silently. He mustn't have known what to show her. She was devout in looking at every object that was being experimented on- everything from robotic arms to poison capsules- with a smile, all the contraptions so oddly familiar that it was comforting. It was seeming more and more that this world really wasn't all that different from her own, a comfort in itself.

'Don't open that!' She screamed as someone went to press the big red button like the silly human she was, rushing towards them with a fierce passion, swiping the small capsule from their hands, ignoring the thousand pair of eyes boring into her back. 'Do you know what this is?' She chastised, pointing for dramatic emphasis.

'It's a medicine capsule from Raxicorocofallipatorius.' She gave a silent kudos to the woman that could even pronounce the name.

'And did you check the contents?'

'Yes, it's simple medicine. Similar to a cold treatment here.'

'Do you have your results here?'

'Yes.'

'I want to see them.'

'You don't have the authority.' The Doctor didn't care, grasping at the file that the woman's eyes drew to as soon as she even mentioned results. Flicking through it with military precision, she absorbed the information in seconds. 'Yes, very similar to a cold treatment but one final factor, it's poisonous. Transmitted through the air. It's producing carbon monoxide in vast amounts. As soon as you open this, you all suffocate.' The scientists stared at her, some impressed and others annoyed.

'And how do you know that?'

'I'm a scientist.'

'You don't look like one.'

'Well, I like to do that. Call myself the Doctor. Act like an explorer and scientist. Dress like a hipster...or, at least, that's what Clara told me.' The Doctor's eyes fell and she tried to blink away the oddly pulsating beats of her hearts, her heart stuttering and choking for breaths.

'Well, Doctor, I'm afraid that you cannot interfere with any of this. I thank you for your help, it seems you're trying to help but it's not your place.'

'Oh, don't worry, she just tends to do that.' She would recognise that sardonic voice from anywhere, the deep gruff Norwegian man approaching her with a smirk, his arms folded. 'She's a bit arrogant.' The Doctor only scowled, wishing it was easier to just swear at him in this reincarnation- the words just didn't want to roll off her tongue like they had when she had been graced with a Glaswegian accent. 'And also my partner now it seems,' he smiled wider, 'I think Norway can function for a month or two without me.' Arrogant git.

'Well, show me the way, I want to see what we're supposedly going to be working together on.' He waved a hand for her to follow and pushed his way through three sets of double doors until they reached the final room, a darker room, full of grey tones and tiles, with a single metal table and the incomplete dimension hopper on it. Or, at least she assumed, it was like nothing she'd ever seen before.

'This is a dimension hopper. I'm sure Pete told you a bit about it.' She nodded, shrugging. 'I've had experiences with them.'

'But these are the first...'

'One, time traveller. Two, surely you don't think that humanity would be the first thing to think of such a thing.'

'Well, we-' He stuttered but she stopped him with a lifting of a finger.

'Don't question me. I'm in charge here. You can be my...companion.' She smiled at him wickedly, finding herself wincing just slightly at calling him a 'companion'. Should have labelled him an assistant like he used to, that would be much more fitting. He can clean.

'You really think you're so high and mighty, don't you?'

'Yes, in fact, I do. Now, let's get to work. I want to examine this. Oh, and note down that square is entirely wrong. We're making them circular. And yellow, whoever chose snot green is an idiot.' Finn nodded, barely having a word edgeways, his arrogant demeanour suddenly slipping into submissiveness as the Doctor began to talk...and talk...and talk, making notes on the differences between her dimension hoppers and this, Finn faithfully typing it into his tablet. oPad, now that was just stupid, when was it decided to make it O?

She couldn't find much similar at all in the end, and she was readying herself to scrap this prototype entirely. 'It has the capacity to jump about a metre. They've got the force capacitors right but nothing strong. And this wiring is all so messy, they need a lesson in tidiness.' The Doctor chastised, pulling wires out of the machine like a child with a plate of spaghetti.

The Doctor was knocked out of her stupor by a series of knocks on the door, erratic but pounding as the sounds of muffled voices burst through the cracks in the doors. 'Come in!' She called out, not even trying to look at who had just entered, squinting her eyes at the mess of wires that she now held in the palm of her hand, completely separated from the rest of the circuit.

'Doctor...that's are only one.' Pete stumbled on his words as he watched the Doctor ripping his prototype to shreds. He hadn't expected her to get to work already.

'Don't worry about it,' she dismissed idly, wafting a hand around without looking at him. 'I already know how to fix this. Or how to start, at least. It'll be fine.' She smiled brightly, turning to him with a beam, pushing the mangle roughly into the casing that was no more than just that, casing: anything electronic about it had been torn to shreds.

'If you're sure.' He stated uneasily. For the first time, The Doctor was seeing the wrinkles crease his forehead and the facade of calm dissipate into uncertainness. 'I was just here to introduce you to the team that made this and will help you. They were going to take you through what they made but I see you've already done that for them...' He trailed off, wringing his fingers together before fleeing the room, typing rapidly on his phone.

'Heya, everyone! I'm The Doctor. Don't tell me your names, I'll nickname ya anyway. This is Finn, though. He's annoying; don't talk to him. I've looked at your device and I've noted down improvements that'll be made. I like tinkering so I'll do it myself. The faster I get this done, the better. Any questions?' She fired off, staring at the sea of blank faces with a charming grin.

'Um...' A boy dared to put his hand up, a lanky one too, looked like his dog had peed on him this morning. 'What are we here for if not to make the device?'

'Glad you asked! To show off to, of course. Someone has to see my brilliance.' She scanned the room, her voice disjointed from her body, her mind on autopilot. 'And this is all of you, right?' She asked, picking out the girls with blonde hair, glad to see that none of them were bleached.

They nodded unanimously and she begins to push through the crowd. 'Then I'll see you tomorrow, guys! Finn, get those notes on something official, I'll need them tomorrow!' She called out before working her way through the maze system until she located someone who looked at least marginally high-ranking. 'Um, do you know where my TARDIS is? Big blue police box? Or know someone else who does?' The woman looked flabbergasted that she was being talked to, especially a woman with a bum-bag.

'Um, I'm afraid I don't, madam. What security level are you on?'

'The highest.' Sounded sketchy, it would do.

'I can patch you into the CEO if you would like?' She nodded, despite the intended venom in her voice, she was clearly trying to prove that she was an infiltrator. Oh, how much it pleased The Doctor when someone was wrong.

'Pete Tyler I have a...'

'Doctor.'

'Doctor?...here for you.'

'Pete, hi!' She shouted down the comm-system. 'I was wondering if I could be shown to the TARDIS?' Pete told her the room and the woman begrudgingly led her there, looking not even the slightest bit surprised when she saw a lone police box under a spotlight in its own private chamber.

'Thanks, see ya!' She called out before rushing to the TARDIS doors, opening them vigorously only to find them still closed. 'Oh, please don't do this to me! I'm not going to leave, I promise. I'm helping with the dimension hoppers, that's what you want, isn't?' The TARDIS hummed inconsequentially, spouting gibberish. 'Please, you can turn off the console and everything, I just want my own bedroom. I hate human hotels. They're bloody disgusting.' The TARDIS creaked her doors open and The Doctor thanked her with a wide smile before she threw herself into the gently lit console room, immediately flying down the corridors until she found her bedroom, throwing herself onto the bed. She normally wasn't all that bothered about sleep, something that humans made such a great fuss about, but suddenly after the events of today, she couldn't be more glad to be in her own bed. Not to mention that before she had even arrived her, she had been chased down by some blue-bleeding shadow people.

The Doctor practically passed out, the time barely eight in the evening, waking up at the crack of dawn to grab a bowl of cereal- granola topped with bananas, her favourite- and shovel it into her mouth before entering the grimy room that they stored her ship in, thanking the TARDIS as she left for her generosity.

She'd already memorised the way back to the lab and was glad to see that she was the first to arrive, the still demolished dimension hopper strewn in three parts across the inspection table, the low-hanging light shining too brightly on the gregariously green object.

She tinkered exhaustively until Finn arrived, his hair askew and his clothes practically back to front. 'Not used to waking up early?' She asked, peering in her peripheral vision at the clock, barely seven am.

'The coffee shop was closed.'

'Ugh, you and your coffee. Tea is much better.'

'How do you know that I normally drink coffee? For all you know, I'm a tea-drinker.'

'One, that statement suggests otherwise. Two, I can smell it on you.' She wrinkled her nose and got back to work, mindlessly waving a hand at him.

'What? Waving a hand at me isn't going to do anything.'

'The notes.' She reminded him, sighing as she looked up from her work.

'Oh...crap!' He shouted. 'Give a minute, I left them at the hotel! It's only a few minutes, I can be back in ten. Sorry!' She laughed at how quickly he went from arrogance to being near to pissing himself, taking out the whole inside of the device from its shell like it was a piece of fruit and not a world-changing travel device.

A knock sounded at the door, gentle and calm and the Doctor could only assume that Finn had left something here too. Sighing heavily, she opened the doors with a tug. 'Finn, how stupid are-' The Doctor looked down, reeling back at the sight of the bright chocolate eyes and wide lips, quirking down into a demure frown.

'Um...who are you?' She choked out, willing herself to take a step back and not throw herself into Rose's arms.

'Rose. I can here to help. I'm...I'm the girl who is using the dimension hoppers once they're complete. And you are?'

The Doctor swallowed thickly, her mouth running dry. Straightening her back and throwing her hair behind her, she put on her best mask and smiled smugly down at the familiar face. She was always good at smug. 'I'm The Doctor, it's nice to meet you, Rose.'

All she did was gape...

...Until a sob escaped her trembling lips.


End file.
